Improvement in street steam-railway cars



UNiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'JOSEPH PgwoonBUaY, or'isosron, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT 1N STREET STEAM-RVAl'LwAY-CARS.

'Specification forming part of Iet'terslntcnt No. 800S. dated May-SO, 1865.

To w55 whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH P. WooDBURY, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement -in Street Steanrtailway Cars; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying draw ings, forming part of this specification', in whichi y Figure 1 is a side elevation of one of my cars, and Fig. 2 a horizontal section of the same in the line ofthe bottoni of'thewindows. Fig. 3 is aside elevation ofthe front end of the car p enlarged; and Fig. 4 is a vertical central section through the same, showing a side elevation 0f the boiler withits appendages. y Fig. 5 is an enlarged pla-n of the drivingwheels and their .lIlLmidiate appendages; Fig.. 6, a similar view of the same, showing two sets of driving-pinions. Fig. f7 is a plan of a truck in which the axles of the wheelsare driven by means of cranks and' connecting-rods instead of gearwheels. Fig. 8 is a top view of the revolving circular platform'. Fig. 9 is an enlarged longitudinal'central section through a port-ion of the drivingshaft g/of Fig. 6, showing the cupland-saucer friction-clutch i by means of which the driving-power maybe shifted from one set of pinions to the other. Fig. 10 -is a side elevation of` a ca'r having vthe spacebetween the 'engine and back trucks brought down below the top of the same within about ten inches of the track, and with doors on each side to `enable passengers to get in and out with greater ease. Fig. 1 1 isa side elevation of a ear hav'- ing the wheelsof the back truck ,less in diameter than the-wheels of theyengine-truek, and thebotto-m of the car back ofthe engine brought down nearer the rails to enable passengers to get in and out with ease. ig. 12 isa sideelevation of Va wear, showing another method of bringing the bottom of the car nearer to the Vtrack by having the back truck-wheels less in section through thefront of the car and the engine-truck, showing how the circular platform is recessed un into the end of the car.

ing downward through saidI platform, and connecting below the samewith the driving crankshaft Y, for lthe purpose of making an independent locomotive and car combined, having .the engines above saidA platform; second, in supporting the circular platform I, carrying the boiler and-engines, by means o'f springs G G-uponthe truck-frame B, so that thelatter may conform 'tothe undulations and :irregularities of the track V, while the said platform remains always parallel with the bottoni ofthe car; third, in connecting the driving-shaft Y rigidly with the circular platform I by :means of Vhzmgers A A, so that said-driving-shaftmay always be the same distance from the engines U U, and' at the same time permit the.

said platform and its" appendages, with the front of the ear A, to move up and down ,on the springs G Gand F F; fourth, in providing the engine crank-shaft Y with a pinion, B', toactuatc gear-wheels C and C on the axles E E of the truck-wheels' I) D,whereby the latter" are driven, while at the 'same time the crank-shaft is freeto move up and down Vwith the platform I on the springs GG and F F #ift-h, in providing the driving-,shaft Y with two pinions, B' and L', of different diameters, and the axles E E of the truck-wheels with two sets of gearfwheels, C C and K K', so that by means of eupand-saucer friction-clutches M- M and N N either one of said pinions may be made to operate at pleasure on its respective gear-wheels, :in order that the tractionpower of the engines may be increased or diminished as required; si xth, in arranging and combining with said circular platforma rack, 1V, and pinion V, or their equivalents, by means of which the engineer may direct the engine-truck onto a 'right or left hand turn,`

out-track at pleasure; seventh, in providing each circular platform with stop-pins a a., to

operate in combination with a bolt, b. in the vrests upon it, asdescribedabove.

front end of the lcar, to prevent the enginetruck, when moving rapidly on a' :nearlystraight road, from ever-turningtoo far to the right or left, or far enough round to break the l same or throw-it from the track; and, eighth,

in supporting the back end of the ear on a circular truck-frame, M, resting upon springs G G, and having between the'ear and truck frame antifriction radial rollers d, the whole resting upon the lower truck-frame, C.v p

To enableothers skilled in theart to make -and use my improvements, Iwillnow proceed to describe the construction and operation of the same. A is the main body of the car,wl1ichis constructed substantially as described in the specil fieation of my pate-nt alluded to above, Q, be-

ingthe 'seats inside; I), the platform; lt, the

external seats; N, the steps, and O the handin suitable boXesin hangers of the usual eonstruction, as clearly shown in Figs.- l and 3, F

being .the springs-in general use for railwaycars.

Fast to the top of the twoside beams ofthe y truck-frame -B are springs G (l, arranged as clearly..shown in Figs. l3 and 4. On the top of .these springs G; Greats the circular platform I, which .turnslon 4friction-rollers d on a I circular trae-k on the bottom of' thcfront end of'the car, as represented in Fig.' 4, and fully deseribed'in my patent alluded to above. A is astrong `loosely-iittingbolt passing ver- 'Ntically-through the sp'ringG into the frame B and platform I, by vmeans of which thelatter arev ysecurely held together, but .leaving the truck-frame B free -to mo'vefas the undulations i, and .irregularities of the track 'V' may require, while at the same time the said circular platform preserves its parallelism with the bottom of vthe car, the frontA end of which (the car) On the center of the platform' I is placed the vertical boiler S, as clearly shown in Figs.

4 and 8. On each side of this boiler is a ver- 4 tical engine, U, of which E is the piston, and D the cross-head, F'the connecting-rod, and 'G' the valve-rod; the Asaid valve-rod and conjne'eting-rod passing ythrong-h an opening in they platform' I, seen in Fig. 4, 'downto thedriv- Ving-shaft Y, which latter turns I in suitable Aboxes in the lower ends of the hangers A' A',

' the upper ends of which arebolted fast tothe bottom ofthe platform.

H H' are thecranks, and e are the crankpins of the driving-shaftY, connected, inthe usualA manner, with the connecting-rods FF.

I I are the eeeentries, `connected in the usual .manner with the valve-rods G G'.

Fast on the center of the shaft Y isa pinion,

B, which meshes into the two gear-wheels O' C',

fast to the axles E E of the truck-wheels D,

as' clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 5. Thus it will be seen that the distance between the engines U U andthe driving-shaft Y will always be the same, and the latter will have the same vertical movements as thepl'atform I, to which it is rigidly connected, by means ofthe hangers A' A', and also kthat the pinion B will move up and down past the center of the gear-- wheels C C' with 4the shaft Y. As the motion, however, is never more than an inch o r two, it i.; never sufflcientto throw the said pinions out of gear; I propose, however, to connect the arles E E with the shaft Y by means of links J J' J' J", Awhich will prevent them from ever separating enough to affect the working ofthe pinions on the gear-wheels;- lIn this latter case, however, the boxes in which the axles turn must be lso constructed as to'be capablo of a slight lateral movement to and from la vertical line passing through the center of the shaft Y a's the latter moves up and down.

In Fig. 5, in addition to t-he pinion B' and gear-wheels C C', I propose in some eases to make use of another pinion, L', and another set of gear-wheels, K' K', and for the purpose alluded to above in setting forth the nature of my invention.

The pinion B', as clearly shown in Fig. 4., is of the same diameter as that of the gear-wheels C C', whereas the pinion L', I make only lonehalf the diameteruof the gear K' K,'into which it meshes.l Thus it is obvious that. thepjnion L'will have .twice the traction-power, of the pinion B,and may be used in ascending-upllillgrades when the pinion B would be inadequate to drive the ear. .There may b e other occasions, also, whenit may be'desirable toemploy ythe pinion L instead ofthe pinion B. g

. In order to cause the pinion B or `L"to operate on their respective gear-wheelsat pleasure, I make use of what are wellknown as cupand-saucer friction-clutches M M and N N', t-he construction and arrangementof which are clearly shown i11 Figs 6 and 11. rIhe two pin ions L B', when not acted upon bythe cups M M',are free to turn upon the'crank-shaft Y,- whereas v,the cups. M' M', by means of the splinex, are made'to revolve with the said shaft, but are free to slide horizontally from the one pinion to the other, being moved by means of a forked lever in the groove g'. Vhen, as in Fig. l1, the cups M' M are moved 'tothe right, so that the right-hand one fits n to the corresponding saucer, f, formed by the iiange-N i-nthe side ofthe pinion'B, thelatter will be driven. Vhen lthe said cups arr` moved, to the left, so that one-of themfits inte the saucer f in the side of pinion L', the latter will be driven and the other released.

In Fig'. 7, instead of employing pinions an gear-wheels, the axlesll -E of the truck-wheel are dri venby means of six cranks, 11. h h h h h and four rods, 11 i z' i, connecting the drivingy shaft Y 'and each of the aXl'es E E, as clearly shownin the drawings. The hind truck, C, lwith its wheels K K,

left, fast to the bottom frame of the front end of the car; and Vis a pinion pivoted to the top of the circular platform I, and engaging with said rack. This pinion V, being provided with a suitable upright shaft and a Wheel or -crank at the top of a convenient height to handle,) maybe moved in either direction by the engineer, whereby he is enabled to turn the said platform and the car itself either to theright or left onto another track at pleasure and for the purpose specified above, thereby avoiding the necessity of employing switches and tenders.

a a., Fig 8, are two pins projecting above the surface of the platform I, near its edge, and b is a hinge or bolt fast to the car-frame between said pins, the design of which is to allow the truck, when running on a nearlystraight track, a slight vibration between the said pins to conformto the slight deviations and irregularities of the track, while at the same time it will prevent the possibility of the truck ever turning too far to either side while in rapidmotion, as it might otherwise do, and thereby occasionl serious damage by running off' the track. y

Wis abrush or scraper, to'assist in clearing the track 'of snow, ice, and other obstructions.

Z are brakes such as are generally used on raih yay-cars.

m m (see Fig. 2) are water-tanks, which are to be connected wjith the pump and boiler by means of a i'iexible pipe, and -n ozy are coalbunkers.

The engines must be Yprovided with the necessary levers and link-1notion to move the valves. Other necessary and Well-known parts and appendages of a steam locomotive-engine need not be described. l

I also propose to attach, in any obvious manner, a rack and pinion or other suitable device tothe periphery of thecircular platform M of the back truck, to enable it to be turned horizontally by the engineerV or conductor to suit the different curves of the rails, or to enable the car to be backed upon the track lin case of its accidentally running oi' the same.

I also propose vto connect an index and a graduated plate or dial with the circular platforms I and M, to enable the engineer or conduc-torto movehorizontally both the engine and back trucks, so as to accommodate the same to the different curves of the railway, the radii of which curves are supposed to be known -to both the conductor and engineer.

Having thus described the construction and operation of my improvements, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

l. The combination of the gear-wheels C C (or cranks and rods, as shownvin Fig. 7) on the axles E E with the crank-shafts Y and pinion B and vertical boilerS and engines U U, when constructed and operating in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

2.1 The combination of the friction-clutches M MN N with one or more pinions, B and L and gear-wheels C C and K K,in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

3. The rack W andupinion B, when conibined' with the circular platform I, in the man ner and for the purpose herein described.

4. The stop-pins al a and bolt b, in combination with the platform I, in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

5. Connecting the driving-shaft Y rigidly with the circular platform I. by means of the hangers H H', when constructed and arranged in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

Witnesses:

N. AMEs,

BROOKS. 

